Federal agency decisions, searchable in plain English.
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Black Beauty Coal Company
Black Beauty Coal Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2008-477): Berm violations partly affirmed and remanded
MSHA cited Black Beauty Coal for inadequate overtravel protection at a dragline bench, a steep temporary drill road, and an elevated dumpsite at its surface mine. For the dragline-bench citation, a Commission majority held that the bench remained a roadway during the dragline move but remanded for…
Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental
Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-206-M): Suspended crane boom violation upheld with $2,500 penalty
Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental was assembling a large crane at the Tilden Mine when a gust of wind pushed a suspended 93,000-pound boom toward an occupied crane cab. The crew foreman directed a worker to cross under the boom with a tag line to prevent the collision. Judge David F. Barbour held that…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc.
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2012-655-D): Economic temporary reinstatement agreement approved
Reuben Shemwell sought temporary reinstatement to the welder position he held before Armstrong Coal Company and Armstrong Fabricators terminated him while his discrimination complaint was being investigated. After a remand and hearing, Judge Jerold Feldman ordered the companies to reinstate…
Roy’s Construction, Inc.
Roofing, respirator, and ladder violations affirmed
Roy’s Construction was repairing the roof of the Legislature Building in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. OSHA saw employees working without fall protection on a steep roof that the site supervisor said was 36 feet high. Employees also wore company-supplied respirators near asbestos-removal work without…
Petro Hunt, LLC
Flame-resistant-clothing citation vacated at oil production site
Petro Hunt operated an oil production facility in North Dakota where a treater shed caught fire shortly after two employees left the site. OSHA cited the company because it did not require employees who gauged tanks and worked around hydrocarbon pressure vessels to wear flame-resistant clothing…
Rock Utility, Inc.
Trench and ladder items affirmed, vest item vacated
Rock Utility was installing a water line in Quincy, Massachusetts, when OSHA inspected a trench that reached 6.3 feet deep. An employee worked in the deeper end of the Type C soil trench without sloping, benching, or a trench box. The judge also found that the company's informal safety discussions…
Align Roofing, LLC
Late notice of contest dismissed
Align Roofing received an OSHA citation on December 16, 2011, making January 9, 2012 the last day to file a written notice of contest. The company had been told before the citation issued that any contest had to be in writing, but it did not send its notice until January 20, eleven days late. The…
Straight Ahead Construction, Inc.
Excavation water and cave-in items vacated
Straight Ahead Construction dug a street excavation in Miami to install drainage structures during intermittent rain. OSHA alleged that employees worked in accumulated water and lacked cave-in protection in an excavation more than 5 feet deep. The judge found no reliable measurement showing that…
West Alabama Sand & Gravel, Inc.
West Alabama Sand & Gravel, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2009-870-M): Unwarrantable failure removed and fall-protection penalty reduced to $760
An independent truck driver climbed onto a loaded trailer about ten feet above the ground without fall protection while at West Alabama Sand & Gravel's mine. The operator did not dispute the violation or its significant-and-substantial designation, but it challenged the unwarrantable-failure…
Recon Refractory & Construction, Inc.
Recon Refractory & Construction, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2010-450-M): Mine Act jurisdiction applied during cement-plant construction
RECON was a subcontractor building part of a new cement-processing facility at Drake Quarry before the plant or adjoining quarry had begun operating. It argued that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because the site had produced no cement or miner hours and Arizona administered its own OSHA plan. Judge Alan…
Garabar, Inc.
Informal-conference request did not preserve a contest
Garabar, a roofing and general contractor, received two serious OSHA citations with $5,400 in proposed penalties on November 16, 2011. Its written contest deadline was December 8, but it did not submit anything until a December 22 letter requesting more time for an informal conference. The…
NLJ Builders, Inc.
Controlling contractor held responsible for unsafe scaffold
NLJ Builders subcontracted carpentry work at a Florida bank project and supplied the subcontractor with a scaffold owned by NLJ. A subcontractor employee worked about 15 feet above the ground on a platform that was less than half planked, lacked a firm base and guardrails, and had not been erected…
SeaWorld of Florida, LLC
Killer-whale hazard and stairway items affirmed as serious
SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau died after the killer whale Tilikum pulled her into a performance pool during a close-contact interaction. OSHA alleged that trainers faced recognized struck-by and drowning hazards when performing drywork with Tilikum and drywork or waterwork with other killer…
Highland Enterprises, LLC
Highland Enterprises, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2009-1213-M, et al.): Handrail and guarding violations affirmed with two negligence reductions
Highland Enterprises operated a portable crushed-stone plant at the Mt. Solo Pit and contested five citations involving a work platform, conveyor pulleys, a bulldozer fan, and missing rear lights. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy affirmed an S&S handrail violation because tying off did not replace the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc.
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2012-655-D): Temporary reinstatement affirmed despite shop layoff
Reuben Shemwell worked as a welder for Armstrong entities and alleged that he was terminated after complaining about the need for respirator protection from welding fumes. The operators said he was discharged for unauthorized personal cell-phone use and argued that a shop layoff affected any…
Maple Coal Company
Maple Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 2012-405): One-day date-stamp error excused and penalty reopened
Maple Coal Company's proposed penalty assessment became a final Commission order after the 30-day contest period expired. The company's safety manager had mistakenly stamped the assessment as received one day later than its actual delivery date. Senior counsel relied on that stamp and filed the…
Ernest B. Matney, employed by Knox Creek Coal Corp.
Ernest B. Matney, employed by Knox Creek Coal Corp. (FMSHRC VA 2008-215): Individual-liability penalty settled at $2,160
An earlier ALJ decision found that Knox Creek agent Ernest Matney was not personally liable for inadequate preshift examination and roof-control violations. The Commission reversed in part, holding Matney personally liable for knowingly failing to address readily apparent hazardous roof conditions…
Elmore Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Elmore Sand and Gravel, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2012-112-M): Confused penalty deadline excused and contest reopened
Elmore Sand and Gravel's proposed penalty assessment became a final Commission order when it was not contested within 30 days. The company's safety director was recovering from a head injury and experiencing short-term memory problems. He became confused when a later assessment referenced the first…
Strack Excavating, LLC
Strack Excavating, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2012-213-M): Missed penalty contest reopened after employee error
Strack Excavating's proposed penalty assessment became a final Commission order when no contest was filed within the 30-day deadline. The owner said a newly hired safety coordinator had assured him that she timely contested the assessment, but she did not do so and was later terminated. The…
Northern Excavating Co., Inc.
Willful cave-in violations affirmed, training and egress items vacated
Northern Excavating employees worked in a Type C soil excavation that ranged from about 7.5 to 12 feet deep without a trench box, shoring, or adequate sloping. The excavation used prohibited benching, had soil sloughing into it, and sat beside a heavily traveled access road where truck vibrations…
Consolidation Coal Co.
Consolidation Coal Co. (FMSHRC WEVA 2011-940): Special-assessment review forms ordered disclosed
Consolidation Coal sought the forms MSHA used to recommend special assessments for alleged violations, including a proposed $50,700 penalty for a roof-control order. After reviewing the forms privately, Judge David F. Barbour found that the Secretary had adequately explained how the proposed…
Tiffany Myers v. Freeport-McMoRan Morenci, Inc.
Tiffany Myers v. Freeport-McMoRan Morenci, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2011-1337-DM): Driver-monitoring discrimination complaint dismissed
Freeport used driver-state sensors in large haul trucks to detect fatigue, distraction, and tampering. Driver Tiffany Myers complained that false alarms, voice warnings, and monitoring made her work unsafe and caused physical and emotional symptoms, and she alleged that management harassed…
Christian Miller and Willie Rowe, employed by South Carolina Minerals, Inc.
Christian Miller and Willie Rowe, employed by South Carolina Minerals, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2012-216-M and SE 2012-215-M): Individual-penalty dismissal motions denied
The Secretary sought individual penalties against South Carolina Minerals agents Willie Rowe and Christian Miller under section 110(c). They argued that the petitions did not identify facts showing knowing conduct and that the cited orders had not been attached, so the claims should be dismissed…
Kloepfer Inc.
Kloepfer Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2009-749-M and WEST 2009-750-M): Guarding violations upheld but special findings removed
MSHA cited Kloepfer's newly started portable crushing plant for four missing guards, a removed handrail section, and an allegedly inadequate workplace examination. Judge William B. Moran held that the portable plant properly remained under the company's existing mine ID because the two plants had…
L & L Painting Company, Inc.
Lead-monitoring exception rejected and citation items split
L & L Painting removed lead-based paint from the George Washington Bridge after employees were found to have elevated blood lead levels. The company performed no lead-exposure monitoring on the New York side and argued that monitoring from its earlier New Jersey work qualified under the…
Stansley Mineral Resources, Incorporated
Stansley Mineral Resources, Incorporated (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-693-M): Unguarded tail pulley upheld with penalty reduced to $1,000
A Stansley employee repeatedly shoveled spillage within a few feet of an unguarded, fluted conveyor tail pulley at a sand-and-gravel plant. The operator admitted the guarding violation but disputed the S&S and unwarrantable-failure designations. Judge David F. Barbour found a serious entanglement…
FMC Corporation
FMC Corporation (FMSHRC WEST 2010-241-M): Default vacated after answer reached the Secretary
FMC Corporation asked the Commission to reopen a penalty case after its failure to answer a penalty petition led to a default. FMC said it timely responded to the show-cause order, and the Secretary confirmed that the regional solicitor received a copy of the answer. The answer did not show that…
Robles Aggregates, Inc.
Robles Aggregates, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2010-119-M): Default vacated where petition delivery could not be verified
Robles Aggregates asked the Commission to reopen a penalty case after an unanswered show-cause order became a default. The operator said it had timely contested the penalties and received no later communication until the Treasury Department contacted it about the debt. The Secretary did not oppose…
Austin Powder Company
Austin Powder Company (FMSHRC KENT 2010-1529-M): Default vacated after answers used wrong docket number
Austin Powder Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty case after an unanswered show-cause order became a default. The company supplied fax confirmations showing that counsel sent an answer to MSHA and the Commission after the penalty petition, then sent it again after the show-cause order…
Bonita Grande Aggregates
Bonita Grande Aggregates (FMSHRC SE 2010-460-M): Default vacated after ownership change and misdirected answer
Bonita Grande Properties acquired the mine after a penalty case had already begun and later learned that the case had gone into default. The previous owner said it timely answered the Secretary's penalty petition but sent the answer only to an MSHA representative because it did not know a copy also…
Memphis Stone & Gravel Company
Memphis Stone & Gravel Company (FMSHRC SE 2010-1104-M): Default vacated after answer reached MSHA
Memphis Stone & Gravel Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty case after its failure to answer a petition led to a default. The company said it timely responded to the show-cause order and continued negotiating with an MSHA representative, so it did not know a default had taken effect…
Trivette Trucking
Trivette Trucking (FMSHRC KENT 2010-803 and KENT 2010-804): Defaults vacated so settlements could proceed
Trivette Trucking asked the Commission to reopen two penalty cases after show-cause orders became defaults. The company said it did not forward the penalty petitions to counsel because it believed answers had already been filed, and counsel did not receive the show-cause orders. Trivette had also…
Bledsoe Coal Corporation
Bledsoe Coal Corporation (FMSHRC KENT 2010-1016 and KENT 2010-1149): Defaults vacated after timely answers
Bledsoe Coal Corporation asked the Commission to reopen two penalty cases after show-cause orders became defaults. The company said it had timely answered both penalty petitions and believed those earlier answers were enough to avoid default. The Secretary did not oppose reopening and confirmed…
Forrest Aggregate
Forrest Aggregate (FMSHRC LAKE 2010-19-M and LAKE 2010-20-M): Defaults vacated after MSHA follow-up failed
Forrest Aggregate asked the Commission to reopen two penalty cases after unanswered show-cause orders became defaults. The operator said it had requested a conference and spoke several times with an MSHA paralegal, who said someone would contact it, but no one did before a Treasury bill arrived…
Leeco, Inc.
Leeco, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2008-773): Roof-plan violation upheld but significant and substantial designation rejected
Leeco admitted that a continuous miner cut a corner clip larger than the 5-foot-by-5-foot limit in its approved roof control plan. A roof fall in the transition area struck and injured the continuous-miner operator. Judge Avram Weisberger affirmed the violation but found that the Secretary did not…
Mid-Tex Minerals, Inc.
Mid-Tex Minerals, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2011-522-M): Settlement approval vacated for factual review
Mid-Tex Minerals asked the Commission to reopen an approved settlement and payment order. The operator said it did not understand that telephone discussions with MSHA had produced a final settlement and had sent MSHA a letter saying the discussions were unsatisfactory. The Secretary said the MSHA…
D & D Masonry Services, Inc.
Scaffold violations largely affirmed with reduced penalties
D & D Masonry used a multilevel scaffold for masonry work at a Georgia construction site. OSHA found wide platform gaps, damaged planks, unsecured scaffold legs, missing fall protection and a midrail, and a closed stepladder used as access. The judge affirmed those scaffold and ladder conditions as…
P.J. Spillane Company, Inc.
Respirator and scaffold citation items split
P.J. Spillane employees performed masonry tuck-pointing from scaffolds at a Boston worksite. The judge affirmed a serious respirator-program item after OSHA found a dirty, deteriorated respirator and facial hair that interfered with face seals. A missing safety data sheet for a corrosive cleaner…
Cranesville Block Company, Inc. / Clark Division
Respirator violations affirmed and drowning item vacated
Cranesville manufactured ready mix concrete at its Teall Avenue plant in Syracuse, New York. An employee chipping hardened concrete from a mixer drum was exposed to silica at four times the permissible limit while wearing an organic-vapor cartridge instead of the appropriate particulate filter. The…
National Steel Erection, Inc.
Gas-cylinder barrier violation affirmed
National Steel Erection stored oxygen, acetylene, and propane cylinders on a rack at a Tennessee construction site. The oxygen and acetylene cylinders were adjacent to each other behind a quarter-inch metal partition with one-inch gaps on both sides. The judge found that the partition lacked the…
Chenal Valley Construction, Inc.
All citation items withdrawn and judge’s decision vacated
The judge had affirmed residential fall-protection and ladder citations against Chenal Valley Construction as the controlling employer at an Arkansas homebuilding site. The case was directed for Commission review. Before the Commission decided the merits, the Secretary withdrew every remaining…
Corrpro Companies, Inc.
Hole fall-protection item affirmed and inspection item vacated
Corrpro employees installed a corrosion-protection system inside a water-treatment structure in Ohio. A first-time field worker stepped into an uncovered two-foot-square hole and fell about 12 feet, sustaining a spinal fracture that required surgery. The judge vacated the competent-person…
Dayton Tire, Bridgestone/Firestone
Ninety-nine lockout violations reclassified as serious
The Commission had previously affirmed ninety-nine lockout/tagout violations as willful and assessed $1,975,000 in penalties against Dayton Tire. The D.C. Circuit vacated the willful classifications for insufficient evidence and remanded for the Commission to reassess the violations and penalties…
Stone & Webster Construction, Inc., Bartlett Nuclear, Inc.
Privilege-related discovery orders vacated
Stone & Webster Construction and Bartlett Nuclear sought draft OSHA citation worksheets for use in a jurisdictional defense involving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The judge rejected the Secretary's deliberative-process privilege claim, ordered disclosure, and issued a show-cause order that…
Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation
Work-boot payment citation vacated
Cargill required meat-processing employees exposed to wet, slippery floors to wear ankle-covering work boots with water-resistant uppers and slip-resistant soles. OSHA cited Cargill for requiring employees to pay for those boots. The judge found that the boots were exempt “normal work boots”…
Kilby & Gannon Construction Services, LLC
Willful trenching violations affirmed
Kilby & Gannon employees installed drainage pipe in a type-C-soil trench at a parking-garage project. Two workers entered the trench even though it was more than five feet deep, lacked a trench box or adequate sloping, and had no safe egress point within 25 feet. The foreman knew the excavation…
Nova Group/Tutor-Saliba, A Joint Venture
Concrete-piling stacking violation affirmed
Nova stacked 55,000-pound concrete pilings in a temporary storage area on uneven pavement using inadequate and inconsistent dunnage. Two pilings rolled and pinned an employee, causing serious injuries that included a partial leg amputation. The Commission rejected Nova's claims that the judge's…
Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc.
Recordkeeping case remanded after appellate vacatur
An administrative law judge had affirmed a recordkeeping violation against Caterpillar Logistics Services. The Seventh Circuit reviewed the case and vacated the judge's decision. After receiving the court's mandate, the Commission remanded the case to the judge for further proceedings consistent…
Nyffeler Construction, Inc.
Roof fall-protection and training violations affirmed
Two Nyffeler Construction employees installed roof sheathing more than ten feet above the ground without compliant fall protection. The company owner could see the work and admitted that no guardrail, safety net, or personal fall-arrest system was in use. The company also had not trained the…
Trinity Yachts, LLC
Argon hazard-training item affirmed on second remand
A Trinity Yachts employee died after inhaling argon gas in an enclosed shipyard vent trunk. On second Commission remand, the judge reopened the record to hear from the human-resources administrator who had oriented the employee, who had difficulty reading and writing English. The judge found that…
Post Buckley Schuh & Jernigan, Inc.
Fatal heat-stress violation affirmed
An archaeological field technician became disoriented while digging test holes during his first day on a Texas pipeline survey project. Temperatures approached 99 degrees, he was sent alone toward an air-conditioned vehicle, and coworkers later found him unconscious with a core temperature of 107.8…
C.P. Buckner Steel Erection, Inc.
Annual-summary certification items vacated
Buckner's safety and risk manager certified the company's OSHA annual injury and illness summaries for three years. The judge found he was not a qualifying company executive and affirmed three other-than-serious items without penalties. The Commission agreed that he was not the highest-ranking…
Millard Refrigerated Services
Mixed ruling after major ammonia release
About 32,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia escaped from a cracked roof header and a broken evaporator coil at Millard's refrigerated warehouse. Roughly 150 people were taken to hospitals and released, and the company lost about $4 million in product. The judge affirmed items involving unguarded…
Teichert Construction
Truck inspection and trench-protection violations affirmed
A backing dump-truck fatality prompted OSHA to inspect Teichert's water-pipeline construction project. The judge found that the truck driver did not complete the required pre-shift vehicle check and that one brake push rod was out of adjustment when the truck was placed in service. He also found…
Virginia Construction & Management Company, Inc.
Willful canopy fall violation affirmed
Two Virginia Construction employees chipped concrete on a canopy 16 feet 7 inches above a sidewalk without fall protection, safety-toe footwear, hard hats, or eye protection. They accessed the canopy by climbing an inadequately configured scaffold, and the company lacked qualified scaffold…
Weatherguard Construction Co., Inc.
Subcontractor roof fall violation affirmed
About seven roofing-subcontractor employees installed tar paper on a two-story house without fall protection. Weatherguard was the general contractor and controlling employer, and its field supervisor had visited the site, seen the roof work, and acknowledged that the same subcontractor had also…
Turner Industries Group, LLC
Chemical-turnaround training and assessment items affirmed
Turner employees replaced chemical-processing equipment during a plant turnaround in an area containing Tris, ethylene dichloride, and other hazardous substances. The company's special meeting focused mainly on Tris, did not cover all chemical hazards, and missed at least one employee who was sent…
Erickson Air-Crane, Inc.
Tanker-truck fall citation vacated for lack of notice
Two Erickson employees repaired a helicopter rotor blade stored on top of a fuel tanker truck during high winds. A gust lifted the blade-box lid and caused one employee to fall about ten feet, sustaining serious injuries. The judge affirmed a general-duty-clause citation based on Erickson's policy…
Associated Underwater Services
Falling-piling dive assessment violation affirmed
An Associated Underwater Services diver worked about 140 feet underwater beside an 8,600-pound piling during installation of an oil-containment boom. The piling detached from a vibratory hammer and fell on the diver, killing him. The Commission held that the relevant hazard was a falling piling…
Thomas Industrial Coatings, Inc.
Willful lifesaving-skiff violation affirmed
A suspended scaffold collapsed about 100 feet above the Mississippi River while Thomas Industrial Coatings employees prepared to paint a bridge. Three employees remained suspended from lifelines, but a fourth fell into the river and died. The Commission vacated two fall-protection items because the…
What these documents are
- Commission decisions: Rulings by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission itself, the highest level of agency review. These are citable as Commission precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by OSHRC Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official OSHRC public release, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.